Friday, March 26, 2010

As you may recall: NYTimes.com announced today a collaboration with New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute to create a new Local community news and information Web site covering the East Village in New York City. The Local East Village site will be developed by N.Y.U.'s journalism faculty and students and is scheduled to launch later this fall.

The Local: East Village (LEV) is looking for a consulting editor to assist in the planning and development phase leading up to the launch of the site in summer 2010, and carrying over to the first few months of operation.

The consulting editor will work directly with the editor of LEV. Responsibilities include:

* planning future coverage of local issues;* recruiting potential contributors from the East Village community;* producing high quality journalism from and about the East Village to run on the site in late summer and fall

This is not a full time position but a part-time paid consulting gig that would begin May 1 and end October 31. Requirements for the position and the criteria for evaluating candidates are:

— Journalism background: You have at least three years professional experience as a reporter, news blogger or editor for a news organization or site.

— Local knowledge: You live in the East Village and have lived there for a minimum of three years (East River to Broadway, 14th to Houston Streets.) You know the neighborhood intimately.

— Web literacy: You have a good command of web journalism and are comfortable with its forms and requirements.

— Independence from NYU: You are not an employee of NYU, or in a consulting role for any other division of the University.

If you are interested in the position and would like to know more about the duties, expectations and rate of pay, send a resume and cover letter to Rich Jones, Editor of The Local: East Village via email and cc Jay Rosen.

Said one East Village observer to EV Grieve: "It's like the White Man hiring an Indian guide to take them into the forests."

It must be a dream: NYU setting up a blog to report on the local east village.Perhaps they want to document the east village before they eviscerate it like they have the west village. The view through the arch is an ugly NYU building. The Bleecker Street Poe theater building is destroyed. They own Judson Church and that wonderful little building that used to sit off the park. They own the alley off Fifth Avenue that is perhaps the only part of the Village NYU has not ruined - yet! In fact almost all of the perimeter of Washington SquarP Park is now NYU. They have removed the village aspect of the west village and replaced it with ugly monolithic buildings and dormitories.

Does anyone else remember community affairs person Evelyn Woods stating that NYU wanted to turn Washington Square Park into the their campus? i was at that public meeting and I remember. NYU has succeeded!

Perhaps this blog will list places where transient NYU students are welcome to drink themselves to oblivion. Or establishments that give the students discounts. NYU describes their students as a part of our east village neighborhood, yet provides private transportation that insulates their students from these "neighborhood" folks that their students will not have to rub shoulders with.

East 14th Street is a self proclaimed acknowledgement of NYU. Replacing several landmark worthy establishments (the Palladium and the gym).is not enough. The only supermarket on lower second avenue is still there as a result of enormous community pressure (for almost a year). The purple NYU flags sway in the wind all over our neighborhood. NYU is like Pac-Man, mouth always wide open while it devours everything it can reach.

Or is this new blog going to be the opening sales pitch for the million something expansion they are planning.

the biggest problem is that the primary news is nyu devouring the neighborhood and destroying life for the residents. doubtful their new editor will be allowed to cover that story. this is the worst kind of propaganda - brilliant but evil.

Perhaps the consultant should start working sooner rather than later. In recent weeks I received a very nice and sincere e-mail from a student who identified him/herself as working on The Local EV. Among other things, the student wanted to talk more with me — on camera — about my music. Word for word, it was the exact same e-mail the student journalist sent to another EV blogger, one who also happens to be a musician. To help win support in the community, it might be helpful to be a little more personal and not try a one-size-fits-all approach. Just like a student sending generic "to whom it may concern" letters to potential employers. It doesn't make a good first impression.

And regardless of the student's best intentions and love of the neighborhood (and I know many NYU students aren't here to play beer pong and wear pajamas on Third Avenue), there's a long history of anti-NYU feelings to overcome. And those feelings won't go away by getting the chance to star in a 90-second video about the neighborhood.

i recently wrote about the Curious George exhibit at the Jewish Museum. one funny (ish?) note: the Reys (authors of the George books) sent cute homemade christmas cards every year. one year the card depicted their home on washington sq park being destroyed, with a little map showing where they were moving. they had to move b/c NYU was taking over their building! this was back in the '50s, i think.

I suggest A. Economakis for this position. Who better than a heartless landlord to run the Gentrify U NYT's [all the expensive real estate that's fit to advertise]new corporate takeover of the LES blogosphere.

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